Category: Africa

I spent most of the week waiting; waiting for others to do whatever they do and deliver various parts to me. The damage to Bridget, following our journey from Moyale to Nairobi, is so severe that all I can do in Kenya is to replace the parts that are preventing us from completing the run. The rest will need to wait until we are back in the UK when I will probably remove the engine and gearbox, strip off all the individual panels, repair, replace where necessary and re-spray the entire car. The spares that Moss Europe have so kindly sent are a new fuel tank, fuel line, brake line, rear shock absorbers, rear light cover and a roll bar link. Locally, I have sourced a temporary windscreen replacement and a new exhaust pipe from the olive joint back to, and including, the tailpipe. I have now been able to re-construct the probable cause of the majority of the damage and it...

The plan is to drive down to Moshi, Tanzania in the morning after I have done some last minute checks on Bridget's repairs. I have replaced her fuel tank, fuel line, brake line, rear shock absorbers, front disc pads and a few cosmetic items (most important as any woman will tell you). There is a picture in the Gallery under the heading Nairobi, of Bridget with her new windscreen. When we return to the UK she will need several replacement panels and a re-spray. So I am taking applications from spraying specialists wishing to secure the prestigous contract for spraying Bridget in her new corporate colours (details currently not disclosed). As well as the picture of Bridget, there are some photos of Marabou Storks, a truely pre-historic bird, not unlike my cousin!! There is a colony, if that is the right word, of these birds in the area surrounding CMC Motors Group in Lusaka Road, Nairobi. Standing at a height of...

Putting motoring matters aside, what is Kenya like? My first impressions, given the location of my entry, were understandably of rural Kenya. The north of the country is eighty percent plains where you can literally see for miles. The landscape is splattered with bushes but few trees; most of the bushes appeared to be covered in very sharp thorns and the trees that do grow resemble mushrooms with flat top foliage, often no more than fifteen feet tall. The hills and mountains at the edges of the plains are mostly barren at the top, very craggy, with some vegetation at the base. Rarely are there any trees. The rural population still includes many very traditional tribesmen looking quite ferocious in their colourful dress. They carry traditional tools and weapons and presumably hunt and forage as their forefathers would have done. Mixed with these are the villagers that are scratching out a living by growing their own produce, keeping a few head of...